


Everything & Nothing; All At Once

by Seal_in_Cyberspace



Series: RWBY Stories [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Edited, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, I promise it's actually cute, Love Confession, Past Abuse, bees having their much needed discussion, post volume 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-01-13 17:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18473869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seal_in_Cyberspace/pseuds/Seal_in_Cyberspace
Summary: Written using the 'Passionate kiss' prompt.~"He attacked you because he could see that I loved you and that scared him. He wouldn’t stop until he fulfilled his promise, and I knew that. So I ran, in some asinine attempt to save you from something that was only brought upon you in the first place because of how much I cared. So don’t think for a second that I left out of dislike or hate, because it will forever be the opposite.”~





	Everything & Nothing; All At Once

**Author's Note:**

> I referenced quite a few songs in the soundtrack in this fic  
> Lets see if you guys can catch them all lol  
> This is probably my favourite story that I've ever written if I'm being honest
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it :3

Yang slowly blinks her eyes open. There’s a severe lack of light, which tells her that it’s still the middle of the night. She feels a swift breeze, and it makes her shiver. She reaches down to pull her blanket up higher, but she meets a slight resistance. Frowning, she turns onto her back, glancing at the area beside her on the bed. It’s at that exact moment that she remembers the sleeping situation, and how they were forced to share a bed. She raises onto her elbow, glancing down at the faunus who’s asleep facing away from her. She lets out a sigh, taking in how the blanket falls around Blake’s curves, rising and falling along with her steady breathing. Her eyebrows knit together as her mind drifts to the scar on the girl’s lower abdomen, along with the night it happened. She sits up as a wave of emotions crash into her, a phantom pain searing through her right arm. A shaky sigh escapes her lips, sleeping seems so far off now as her mind starts to run wild, thinking of both new possibilities and tragic memories.

 

She sucks in a breath as her left hand raises to her right shoulder, gripping the skin intensely, trying to distract herself from the pain. Other than the odd pain like this, her arm hadn’t really ever been the problem for her. Blake had left that night, and that hurt so much more than her arm ever has. They’ve talked about it, not as much as they _should_ have by _any_ means, but they have. She knows and understands why Blake had left to an extent, it had been some attempt to protect her. To keep Adam from going after her again. Blake had been quick to assure her that she was quite aware that Yang was more than capable of protecting herself, but she had felt an obligation. She felt for whatever reason that it was her fault that Yang had been injured so badly that night, although Yang can’t seem to place why.

 

She knows that the fight had been between Adam and Blake, but she had jumped in on her own accord when Blake was stabbed. It was her _choice_. She doesn’t understand why the feline faunus blames herself for Yang’s actions. She feels the tears burning in her eyes, threatening to fall as she recalls the worst night of her life over and over again. She raises a hand up to her face to wipe away the tears, accidently letting out a sniffle in the process.

 

Yang catches Blake’s ear twitch ever so slightly in her peripheral, and turns her attention back to her. The girl shifts slightly, and for a moment, Yang believes that she’s still asleep. Then, Blake slowly glances over her shoulder, frowning as she makes eye contact with Yang, then she turns onto her back as Yang had before.

 

“Yang?” she asks, voice still groggy from sleep as she addresses the girl sitting on the bed beside her who was looking down at her.

 

Blake blinks and her eyebrows furrow as Yang doesn’t respond, instead opting to look away from the noirette, not wanting Blake to see her cry. _Again._ If she had been looking, she would have seen the way that Blake’s eyes widened in shock before she sat up quickly, taking Yang’s hand into her own. “Yang, look at me.” Blake says, her voice gentle and void of the grogginess that had been there seconds before.

 

Yang refuses, keeping her eyes planted firmly on her hand. “Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?”

 

Yang shakes her head no. “To which question?” Blake inquires, her voice filled with a concern that only makes Yang more upset.

 

“Both.” she whispers, then slowly meets Blake’s eyes.

 

She doesn’t know why, but she expected to have pity directed towards her, it’s all that anyone ever offers. Instead, she sees the concern that she had heard in Blake’s voice, and guilt. Yang frowns as Blake glances down at her hand briefly before meeting her eyes again, her feline ears pinning back against her head. Yang has wanted to ask her so much since she’s returned, and she knows that Blake would try her best to answer anything that she did ask, so she isn’t quite sure why she’s so reluctant to. The two of them are still in a weird place, a fine line between everything and nothing all at once. Yang knows that they aren’t okay, not really. Not _right now_. She knows that they will be though, and she believes Blake when she says that she isn’t going to leave again, and that scares her so much. Blake’s completely destroyed her pride once before, and the people in her life have a long history of leaving or shutting her out, so everything is telling her that it will just happen again. Her mind drifts back to the fall of Beacon, so she decides to finally ask Blake one of her questions. “Why?” Yang asks, her voice small, unsteady.

 

When she meets Blake’s eyes, she looks confused, and Yang realizes that she should probably elaborate. “Why do you blame yourself for everything that happened that night?”

 

She watches the slow shift of comprehension flicker away to guilt on her partners face, “I…” Blake shakes her head, before meeting her eyes again, “Because it _was_ my fault, Yang.”

 

“How? I made the choice to jump in on my own, Blake.”

 

This time it’s Blake who looks away, and she seems to be considering her words very carefully, another sign that they aren’t at all what they used to be. “There was more to it than what I told you.” she says reluctantly, and Yang raises her eyebrows.

 

“What do you mean-”

 

“Adam made a vow that night.” she says, and Yang falls silent, “He… scared me more than I’ve ever been scared before. It’s bad enough that he had always threatened me, but that night… it wasn’t _just_ me he vowed to destroy. I saw you before you came in. I heard you, and he did too. He saw something in my eyes that terrified him when I looked at you. He saw that-”

 

Blake swallows thickly and her eyebrows furrow even more, “He saw that he no longer had any control over me in the way he wanted. If there is anything to be said about Adam, it’s that he utilized that control he had over people. His power was always in his control.”

 

“What does that have to do with me?” Yang inquires, “What did he see in your eyes when you looked at me that scared him so much?”

 

Blake smiles mirthlessly, “I loved him, you know? I was such an idiot. Youth and infatuation just kept me too blind to see what he really was all that time. I thought we were fighting for the same cause, but we never were. Adam wanted destruction and I wanted peace. I left him when I realized that, but he still haunted me. Then I met you and the others, and that faded for a while. I got comfortable with you guys, and Adam was merely a fleeting thought. Then, the whole thing with Mercury happened and I was scared that you were just another person that I was too blind to see through. I know now how wrong that was, but at the time it was terrifying.”

 

She pauses for a moment, but Yang can tell that she’s going to continue, so she stays silent. “You asked what he saw that scared him.” she meets Yang’s eyes, “And like I mentioned before, he saw that he no longer had control over me. When he saw the absolute terror in my eyes upon him noticing you, he knew. He knew something that I’d barely began to realize myself. His vow was to destroy everything I love, Yang.”

 

Yang’s eyebrows furrow as puzzle pieces struggle to fall together in her mind. “Starting…” Blake takes a deep breath, “Starting with _you_ , Yang. He attacked you because he could see that I loved you and that scared him. He wouldn’t stop until he fulfilled his promise, and I knew that. So I ran, in some asinine attempt to save you from something that was only brought upon you in the first place because of how much I cared. So don’t think for a second that I left out of dislike or hate, because it will forever be the opposite.”

 

Yang’s eyes widen in shock, she sputters for a moment but then falls completely silent. Blake only stares at her, waiting for a reaction at her words. The faunus looks away from her after a minute, a blush spreading across her face in embarrassment, and she pulls her hand away from Yang’s. She stands from the bed, clearing her throat awkwardly as she says, “I’ll… leave you alone. I’m… _sure_ the Schnee’s wouldn’t mind if I slept on the couch in the common room.”

 

Blake walks over to the door and Yang can see the heaviness in her shoulders, how much she doesn’t want to leave the room, and she finally snaps out of her stupor as Blake’s hand reaches the doorknob. “Loved?” she asks, her voice sounding small akin to the way it had been before.

 

Blake glances back at her, and Yang feels time stop as a tear slides down her partner’s cheek. “ _Love_. Still love.” Blake corrects reluctantly.

 

Yang’s frown slowly morphs into a smile. “You love me?” she whispers, and Blake shrinks in on herself again.

 

She realizes that Blake might take her prompting the wrong way, so she stands up and walks over to her. The girl doesn’t look up at her, instead shrinking into herself more. Yang raises her hand with the intent to tilt Blake’s face up to make eye contact with her, but Blake flinches away from her hand. It’s subtle, but Yang still notices. “Blake… I won’t- I’d never hurt you. I’m not him. I’ll never be him.” Yang says and Blake slowly raises her head to make eye contact with her, but her ears are still pinned against her head.

 

Yang tries again, slower this time, and cups her jaw. She smiles down at her in an attempt to calm her down, and it works. Blake’s left ear twitches ever so slightly, flicking up to stand tall atop her head. Yang finds it endearing how so many emotions can be conveyed through her ears, like the curiosity she knows Blake feels right now from how they stand. “I love you too, you know. That’s why it hurt so much when you left. I saw it as the person I care about most leaving me because she didn’t care anymore. I’m glad I was wrong, because even when I tried to hate you for what you did, I couldn’t. Especially after you came back. When I saw your face, all of my anger faded away despite my better judgement. You may have left once upon a time, but you came back, and that’s... all that matters somehow.”

 

Blake wraps her arms around Yang hesitantly, but pulls her closer when the girl doesn’t pull away. “W-When I almost died because of the apathy,” Blake starts, her head resting against the taller girl’s shoulder, “all I could think about was that I’d broken my promise to you. That I was going to die, and leave you all alone again, and I hated beyond words that I couldn’t do anything about it. You’ve been hurt way too many times in your life, Yang, and I’ve contributed to that pain more than I care to admit. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you know how you really deserve to be treated. With all the kindness, respect, and small little things that you are entitled to. If… if you’ll have me, that is.”

 

Yang smiles and wraps her arm around Blake’s neck, her hand cradling the back of her head on her shoulder. “Of course. There’s nothing that I would like more. On one condition though.”

 

Blake raises her head so she can meet Yang’s eyes, tilting her head to the side in curiosity, and Yang lets her hand fall to her neck, rubbing her thumb gently across the skin there. “And what would that condition be?” Blake asks.

 

“That you allow me to do the same for you, because trust me Blake, you deserve it just as much as I do.”

 

Blake pretends to ponder the idea for a moment, and Yang can’t help the laugh she lets out at the thoughtful expression that the faunus’ features adopt. “I think that those terms are agreeable.” she muses, and Yang rolls her eyes although her smile widens into a grin.

 

“God, we’re so cheesy.” Yang laughs, and Blake joins in soon after.

 

“Would you have it any other way?” Blake asks, and Yang shakes her head, “Me neither… I never thought we’d get here after everything that’s happened. I’m glad that you’re giving me another chance to make things right.”

 

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let that opportunity go. I think that now… whatever life throws at us, we’ll be prepared. We’ll overcome it all. We always have worked better as a team, don’t you think?”

 

“We really have.” Blake smiles, then it falters the slightest bit as she continues, “Look, Yang. I want us to be completely honest with each other. If you’re sure this is what you want, it’s our job to share and lighten each other’s burdens. I want… I want you to know about my past. _Everything_ about it, and that- I don’t trust anyone else enough to even tell them that there _was_ more to my past.”

 

Yang frowns at the way Blake seems to shrink in on herself again, wondering what else could have possibly happened to the girl in front of her. She pulls Blake back over to the bed, sitting her down on it, and Yang sits cross legged beside her. Blake pulls her legs up so that she’s sitting in the same way as Yang, their knees touching slightly. “First of all, I… my dad is the Chieftain of Menagerie, and I’m his only child, so…”

 

“So, you’re more of a princess than Weiss is?” Yang jokes, smiling as Blake nudges her knee in exasperation, although she lets on a smile of her own.

 

“I guess I am,” she laughs, “But there is a lot more that I need to tell you. That was… _definitely_ one of the lighter things.”

 

Yang nods as a signal for the faunus to continue. “I really don’t know where to start. Maybe with the lighter things. You know Ilia, right?”

 

“Yeah, the chameleon faunus? You two were childhood best friends if I recall correctly.”

 

“Yeah, that’s her. Well, there was a time, I… I had a slight falling out with Adam, and looking back, I wish we never reconciled but that’s not what I’m talking about right now. Ilia and I were together for a while… very briefly, mind you, but we still were. She still harbored feelings for me after everything, but we’ve talked about it. She knows that she doesn’t have my heart.” Blake finishes, and Yang smirks.

 

“And who does?”

 

Blake laughs with a small shake of her head, “I think that you know that already.”

 

“Do I really?” Yang inquires, leaning forward the slightest bit, her chin falling to the palm of her hand as she rests her elbow against her knee.

 

Blake decides to just continue talking, letting the blonde’s teasing fall into the space between them. A space that Yang had decreased slightly, not that Blake was complaining. “After Adam and I… _rekindled_ our relationship, things only got worse. He only got more and more abusive, both mentally and physically. I started to believe that I really was useless, _worthless_ , and… _unimportant_. That everything I said really was wrong, that he was always right. The one time that I actually tried to stand up for myself, I was beaten down. That night at Beacon… that wasn’t the first time he’s physically scarred me.”

 

“ _What?_ ” Yang’s eyes widen, and immediately roam over Blake’s body, trying to see something that maybe she’d never noticed before.

 

“The first time it happened, he didn’t stab me. Not the way he did that night. It was more of a warning, a slash across my back to show me that I didn’t have the right to my own opinion. My clothing covers it, I made sure of that.” Blake explains, “I couldn’t even begin to count how many times he had bruised me. Let’s just say that I’m glad that _they_ heal with time.”

 

“Blake, I-I had no idea…”

 

“I knew what he was capable of Yang. He already put me through hell, and when my burden carried over to you with a slash from Wilt… I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared that he’d only come after me again, and if I was near _you_ then that would mean that he’d come after you by extension. I knew if that happened, he’d kill you like he promised, and I couldn’t allow that.”

 

“So you left.” Yang concludes, everything finally falling into place.

 

Blake nods, and her voice sounds choked up as she echos, “So I left.”

 

There’s a silence between them for quite a while as Yang tries to process everything. “All along I… I believed that you left without a reason or any consideration. I thought that you didn’t care how I felt at all. That my feelings weren’t a big deal to you, but all this time, all you thought about was me when you made that decision to leave.”

 

“I knew it would hurt you if I left, but all I could think about was how much greater the pain would be if I stayed.” Blake says in confirmation, “But you needed me, and I wasn’t there for you, and for that I’m so, _so_ sorry. I was just blind with fear, too scared that you’d meet your end because the younger me decided to get involved with a monster.”

 

Blake glances to the side, her eyebrows knitting together, trying to stop herself from crying again. Yang raises her head from her hand, reaching down and taking one of Blake’s hands into her own. “I know I said this already, but I never blamed you for anything that happened, and quite frankly, I really didn’t care if my life was in danger so long as I could be by your side to protect you. So we could protect _each other._ It was my own temerity that made me lose an arm, and you know, what? I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

 

Honestly, Blake doesn’t understand how every word out of Yang’s mouth just makes her fall even harder than she already has. Then, Yang flashes her that easy smile, and she can physically feel her feelings proliferating. So, before she can stop herself, “ _I love you._ ”

 

She only really registers what she had said when she sees the brawler’s eyes go round. Sure, they had pretty much already revealed that before, but it was different somehow. She’d be lying if she said that the ease in which those three words flowed out of her didn’t scare her. The space between them feels overly sentient as Blake stares right back into those beautiful lilac eyes belonging to her partner, and then Yang is leaning forward, connecting their lips for the first time with a passion that isn’t as shocking as it might’ve been had it happened any other time. She feels herself lean back the slightest bit due to the sudden force, but quickly re-balances herself, reciprocating the kiss as Yang places a hand on her thigh to steady herself. Blake is sitting normally, Yang being the one leaning completely across the non-present gap between them. Blake’s hand moves up to grip at the back of her partner’s neck lightly, keeping her close in any way she can, her other hand helping Yang balance by holding her right shoulder gently, as the prosthetic had already been removed when Yang had initially went to sleep.

 

Blake is the one to pull away, and she wouldn’t have if the need for air hadn’t made itself known. She rests her forehead against Yang’s, smiling uncontrollably at the whole situation. “I’ve wanted to hear you say that for so long,” Yang pants, mere inches from her lips, “This is surreal.”

 

“It really is.” Blake agrees before pulling back completely, meeting her partner’s eyes again, “Now, what do you say we try to actually get some sleep? We unfortunately have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

 


End file.
